R-832 

AUHXN na. TEXAS 

November 20, 1947 

Hon. James C. Jones Opinion Xo, V-436. 

Executive Director 

Veterans' Affairs Commission Re: Power, of the Veterans' 

Austin, Texas Affairs Commission to 

delegate authority to 

its Director to sign 

pay vouchers, 

Dear Sir: 

Your letter of,September 25, 1947, reads in part 

as follows: 

"Your opinion is requested on the following: 

"1. Under Section 6, H. B. #IS, doec 

the Veterans Affairs Commission have the adthority to delegate to the Director, as Executive Officer of the Commission, the right 

to sign pay vouchers for salaries and other 

expenses incurred by the Commission? 

"2 . If the Commission cannot delegate 

the foregoing authority to the Executive Director, would the Chairman of the Commission 

be authorized to sign pay vouchers for salaries and other expenses incurred by the Commission? 

"3 . If que,stions 1 and 2, are answered 

in the negative, how many members of the Commission are,required'to affix their signatures 

to pay vouchers for salaries and other expenses 

incurred'by the Commission before the Comptroller can certify them forpayment?" 

The urpose of a voucher is to furnish evidence 

to the Comptro P ler that the expenditure 1ha.s been incurred 

or ap 

P 

roved by the proper authority. In this connection, 

Artic e 4355, V. C. S., sets out the form of that evidence 

as follows: 
Hon. James C. Jones, Page 2, V-436. 

"All claims and accounts against the 

State shall be submitted on forms prescribed 

by the Comptroller and in duplicate, when required by him except claims for pensions, and 

shall be so prepared as to provide for the entering thereon, for the use of the Comptroller's Department as well as other appropriate 

matters, the folfowing: 

"1. Signature of the head of the department or other person responsible for incurring the expenditure." 

Since Article 4355 is:directed only at the form 

to be used, which shall provide, among other requisites, 

for the signature of the proper authority, the question 

arises as to who is the "head of the department orother 

person responsible for incurring the expenditure." This 

question is pertinent for the purpose of determining who 

should approve the claims o,r accounts. 

An examination of House Bill 18, (Acts 50th 

Legs. ,R. S Ch, 363, page 728) creating the Veterans' 

Affairs Co&ission indicates that the Commission itself 

is the functioning head of all activities of the Commission. With reference-to the expenditure of money for 

silaries and expe,nses, Section 5 of the Act provides: 

"Suitable offices and office equipment 

shall be provided by the State of Texas for 

the-veterans', Affairs Commission in the City 

of Austin. The Commission may incurthe necessary expenses for office'furniture, stationery, printing, incidentals, and other expenses 

necessary to perform its work, and sufficient 

office personnel, stenographers, typists, and 

clerical,help shall be employed to maintain 

the efficient operation of the office, The 

Commission shall be authorized to paythexpenses provided in paragraph 5 hereof from 

the appropriation hereinafter transferred to 

the Commission." 

In addition, when dealing with the functions 

of the State Approval Agency for Veterans' Education, Section 8 provides in part: 

lTIncident'al expenses for the operation 

of the Agency--such as postage, stationery, 
Hon. James C. Jones, Page 3, V-436. 

telephone and telegraph, and other contingent expenses--shall be paid by the Veterans' Affairs Commission. . . " 

With reference to the duties of the Executive 

Director, Section 6 of the Act provides in part as follows: 

"The Director shall be responsible for 

placing into operation the policies and instructions promulgated by the Veterans' Affairs Commission, and shall serve as Executive Officer of the Commission, but he shall 

not have the power to vote. The Director 

shall be in charge of the offices of the Commission, shall direct the paid personnel of 

the Commission, and be responsible to the 

Commission for all reports, data and so forth, 

required by the Commission." 

Numerous opinions rendered by this department 

have held that it is without the authority of Boards similarly created as yours to delegate their discretionary 

functions to an Executive Director of approving vouchers 

for the issuance of warrants, in the absence of an express statutory grant of authority to the Executive Director to approve vouchers. 

O-5366, and V-286. 

Opinions Nos. O-5292, O-5333, 

There being no indication in your inquiry to the contrary, we shall assume that your reference as to whether the Executive Director shall "signs 

the vouchers includes "approve", and does not presuppose 

that the Commission has "approved" them prior thereto. 

With regard to your first inquiry as to whether 

the Veterans' Affairs Commission may delegate its authority to the Executive Director of the Commission to sign, 

for the purpose of approval, pay vouchers for salaries 

and other expenses incurred by the Commission, we quote 

the following language from Horne Zoological Arena Company v, 'City of Dallas, 45 S. W. (2d) 714: 

"The general rule is that, where the 

law creates a board to have charge of the 

affairs of a municipality or a particular 

part thereof, such board may appoint agents 

to discharge ministerial duties not calling 

for the exercise of reason or discretion, 

but it cannot go beyond this and delegate 
Hon. James C. Jones, Page 4, V-436. 

to others the discharge of duties which call 

for reason or discretion, and which are regarded as a part of the public trust assumed 

by the members of such board. The power to 

exercise discretion in matters intrusted to 

such boards cannot be delegated, surrendered 

or bartered away." 

There being no express statutory delegation 

of authority to the Executive Director to approve vouchers for the issuance of warrants, the Commission alone 

has the non-delegable discretionary function of approving such vouchers. The Executive Director is not vested 

with the discretionary function which is granted to the 

Commission by Section 5 of H. B. lg,,supra, and in matters pertaining to the exercise of discretion, he consummates the policies which have been determined by the 

Commission in its discretionary authority,, 

&Uth regard to your second question of whether 

the Commission can delegate its authority to the Chairman to si,gn pay vouchers for salaries and expenses, 

again there is no indication that such vouchers have 

been theretofore approved by the Commission. Clearly, 

in the absence of a grant of express statutory authority, the Chairman of the Commission cannot exercise a 

discretionary function alone, The~voice of the Commission must speak, State,Board of Registration for Professional:Engineers v. Hatter, 139 S. X. (2d) 169. 

If, however, the Commission has approved nayment of the claim while acting as a bodv. it mav delegate by a proper resolution the ministerial function of 

signing or executin; the vouchers on behal,f of the Commission,to elthc !r t e Executive Director or the Board 

Chairman. See Opinions No, s. V-286. and ~0-5667. rendered l;y this Department. 

Your third question involves the number of 

members of the Veterans t Affairs Commission required 

to affix their signatures to pay vouchers, for salaries and other expenses, for certification by the State 

Comptroller. 

Section 4 of H, B. 18, which creates the Commission, indicates the folloiving: 

r1 0 Three, (3) members shall constitute a'qiorum and no action shall be taken 
Hon. James C. Jones, Page 5, V-436. 

by less than a majority of the Commission.'i 

It is clear that at least three members of the 

Commission must haveanorov@ the expenditure, and that 

the indication of their approval must be made known to 

the Comptroller, either by such members affixing their 

signatures to the pay vouchers, or through the medium 

of attaching to the pay vouchers a copy of a resolution 

indicating their express approval of the individual items 

contained in the pay vouchers. At 'least three members of 

the Commission must approve the disbursements; but once 

they have approved them, the ministerial duty of si 

the pay vouchers may be duly delegated to the Cha F rman 

of the Commission or to the Executive Director. 

sumxm 

Neither the Executive Director nor the 

Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Commission 

has the authority to approve vouchers for 

salaries and other expenses incurred by the 

Commission. Horne Zoological Arena Corn $y 

v, City of Dallas, 45 S, ti. (2d) 714. ip 

Commission must act as a body in approving 

the pay vouchers, and at least three members 

must indicate an affirmative vote for approval. Having indicated its approval, the Commission may authorize the Chairman or the 

Executive Director to affix his signature 

to the voucher. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

DJC:jmc 

BY 

APPROVED: 

+!ii& 

ATTORNEY GENZRAL.